Boiler Room (***) – The opening scene to Boiler Room is a disturbing one. Three large buses transport a group of young professionals to a hotel where they maul a buffet table like animals and act like kings of the world, all the while listening to rap music as the narrator quotes lyrics from the Notorious B.I.G. Any film that starts by quoting a dead rapper signals trouble and the vision of these guys looking like the Hell’s Angels in business suits makes you pray for a terrorist attack in their presence. But then the film gains its composure and impresses us with its knowledge of the material it presents.

It treats us as novices (which most of us probably are in terms of the stock market) and takes us through the process of learning what it takes to be a broker who is on the phone to the tune of a $400,000 phone bill. The small resemblance of a plot here works as all we’re really fascinated with is the way these guys conduct business and becomes millionaires by the age of 27. We learn the ropes along with the film’s narrator played by Giovanni Ribisi who, in a nice touch, ran an underground gambling arena before being recruited into the world of the bears and the bulls. Since both markets provide an element of risk in order to make money, it makes a nice counterpoint and even suggests that blackjack may be more respectable. And give the film credit for at least recognizing it’s lifting ideas or characters from other films – unlike some rapper/samplers we know. Ben Affleck’s motivator is an obvious inspiration from Alec Baldwin’s Glengarry Glen Ross character. Seems like a blatant ripoff until another broker asks Ribisi if he saw Glen Ross and remembers the ABC philosophy of that film – Always Be Closing. And if the film itself sounds like Wall Street 2 – well, these characters know that film by heart, taking turns quoting Gordon Gekko’s philosophy while watching it. There’s a great scene where our lead criticizes a salesman over the phone for making a half-assed attempt to pitch him a newspaper subscription. A lot of selling goes on in Boiler Room, so much that we almost seem ready to sell ourselves upon leaving the theater. Unfortunately, with the illegal angle the film takes, it reduces the characters to Amway salesmen with venom. I’m not quite understanding of the heavy rap element that blasts from reel to reel. There’s an underlying string of racism spread throughout, mostly harmless interaction between friends and colleagues, but little to none is directed at the black community. In fact the only black actor I can remember plays the secretary/love interest. Is the soundtrack suggesting a comparison between rap artists and stock brokers – the similar nature of rags-to-riches stories? It’s never quite clear so I’ll chalk it up to an easy way to sell a few more soundtracks. All the actors here do a good job. Giovanni Ribisi is a decent actor, not a great one. He gets to play against type here (comic relief/weird guy) and pulls it off nicely, save for a late breakdown scene that recalls his performance in The Other Sister. Vin Diesel, Nicky Katt, Tom Everett Scott, Jamie Kennedy and Affleck all make credible young Republicans. Katt’s motivation for his feud with Ribisi is never quite explained reasonably past relationship jealousy, but it doesn’t take away from his performance.

Boiler Room is far from a great film. It’s “Firm”-like subplot and quick resolution leave something to be desired, but its energy and know-how make it an entertaining and sometimes scary film.